Chapter 15

Before Serpin had left to sort out the old smithy and pack, she and Collin had decided on the mixes to use for the commissioned items.

They had formed the basic moulds for the shapes of the swords and dirks. Having done this before it was much easier this time. They made new moulds to form the Sliders to be used on the hilts. Collin could twist the forms to suit his needs when he made the individual hilts.

Collin and Serpin had no qualms putting Phil’s sister, Allison to work to help them pour the moulds. She was seventeen and an Earth and Physics Novice. Melody was more than happy to let her move into the dorms with Phil, Ryne and the Kelp twins.

Allison was thrilled to accept the apprenticeship from Serpin. She hadn’t wanted to go to University and Melody had been worried what to do with the girl. Melody had left for Slidervale with an easy heart knowing her two children were being cared for.

While the new blades for the dirks were not as elaborate as the first ones the Smiths had made, they were still very distinctive. Collin also wasn’t worried about not putting the pearl on them. They were hard to get hold off and awfully expensive.

He had only used them the first time because they were in a bag in the old Mages stuff and he had liked the effect. He planned to simply replace them with a Quaz crystal for the dirks he made for the Novices and Mages.

Collin was delighted to find the previous Guild Lord had a modest stock of most of the basic gems that he could use for the latest items. The only one he seemed low on were the opals, as Nature was a common trait. He knew from his vambrace that he could also use polished agate, but it wasn’t as popular here, as a gem.

He was surprised to learn that the assorted colours in the stones tended to define the aspects of the Nature discipline, as to whether the wearer had more of an affinity to people, animals or plants. A good mix of colours in the flecks of the opals or the swirls in the agate indicated a stronger ability to work with two or all three aspects of the discipline.

When he had looked agate up in one of Serpin’s mineral and gems books, he learnt that it was often exposed in areas where there had been seismic action and the deep sedimentary layers were lifted. Considering that the islands were originally formed from volcanic action and then compression over time, he was sure there was a lot more agate around this area than he had seen being used.

A chance comment about the old mine made by Glen, who had dropped in to visit, gave Collin something to think about. The seismic actions of a hundred years before may have unearthed some new deposits of iron and gemstones that they could use.

Glen said they had closed the mine at the time, and it had never reopened because it was on Guild land. Collin had less than a week before their new students would turn up and he wanted to get at least their dirks finished.

Collin decided it was time to go visit the mine.

Serpin had taken their flatbed but there was an old Auto that was in a shed with a Carrier and a Flatbed.

Collin made sure they were all serviceable thanks to some spells and crystals. He packed up some basic equipment, his magical box and backpack and left the Hall very early one morning of the fifth week, with Allison. The road to the mine was little better than a Camla-track and it made for slow going. He went as far as he could and then got out of the Auto.

He grumbled about the road to Allison and Slinky said, “Well fix it.”

Collin was surprised when Slinky said that he had the ability. Even though he worked as a smith, Earth wasn’t one of his disciplines. It often surprised him and Serpin, the control he had over the metals and put it down to his Energy skills. He mentioned this to Slinky.

“Collin, you do know what the pearl represents don’t you?” Slinky replied.

“Nothing as far as I know. I just put them on the weapons because I liked them,” he replied.

“No, you put them on the weapons because you and the people you made the special swords and dirks for are agents for your Queen Wizard. While the island doesn’t have one at the moment, it is common for a special gem to be assigned to a continent or land mass that the Queen will control.”

“The special gem also has the unique ability to enhance any latent disciplines that you have and strengthen those you have a gem for. That is why you can work with basic elements without Serpin and are a good smith in your own right. You can fix the road Collin,” Slinky finished.

Collin stood in shock for several minutes while he digested this information. “Does Trae know this?” he had to ask.

Slinky didn’t answer for several moments. He then chuckled and said, “He does now. It seems that this information had been lost to your people. We have suggested to him to try putting different precious gems on his brace to find out if one sticks.”

It was Collin’s turn to laugh. “Well tell him to let me know what it is so I can add it to his weapons. I suggest he try a Cattail-eye crystal. With any luck I might even find some of that type of crystal in these mountains.”

Slinky replied, “Yes, that would be a suitable gem for his Queen Wizard. He says he doesn’t have any, but we agree with you and our geological survey suggests that you may get lucky. This mountain does have small deposits of the mineral know of as blue asbestos. It also has iron and quartz in abundance. Do be careful if you find any asbestos still in its fibrous form as it is not good for you to breathe them in.”

“So, I have read. Can you detect it if I come near it?” Collin asked.

“Yes, it actually has a lot of uses such as for the lining the outside of your furnace to better control your heat losses. With your magic, you should be able to render it safe to use and collect. We suggest you make a form of tile from it, to seal it so it can’t flake.”

Collin was delighted with this knowledge. He looked at Allison, “Fancy learning some new spells?”

Allison grinned back, “Always, Master Smith.”

With Slinky’s help, Collin and Allison fixed the rest of the road to the mine.

They parked the Auto outside the mine entrance. After collecting their packs, tents and tools, they walked into the cavern that fronted the start of the mine. Like the Hall, the mine entrance had been sealed. They both found it eerie to see it looking as though the miners had just left.

They followed two sets of metal tracks down the main shaft to a secondary cavern. It was larger than the first and they saw that the tracks split off to head into three tunnels. Several side tracks also had mine carts parked on them.

Collin selected a large flat cart that had low sides and told Allison to get in. He pinned several lights made from crystals to the poles provided. Using his magic, he propelled it down the shaft that it was lined up to go down. Allison was delighted with this mode of travel.

Allison and Collin had developed an easy rapport over the weeks they had been working together. Serpin had warned Collin that the girl had a crush on him before she left. While Collin appreciated Allison’s interest, he did nothing to encourage her and kept their relationship strictly to be as a friend and as teacher and student.

While she was a very pretty young woman, he felt no interest in her sexually and considered her too young for him. Allison being a slim Genteli like her mother, was also more his father’s type than his. Since he had both Paige and Serpin, he was more than happy with his lot these days. He missed Serpin being with them. He and Paige hoped she wouldn’t be away for long.

Allison had also been smart enough to work out that while Collin loved to work with her as his student, he was devoted to Paige and Serpin. She hoped that she would find a love liked they shared. In the meantime, she was happy to receive Collin’s easy friendship and tried to keep her devotion to what he could teach her.

She had been delighted when he proposed this trip. She had discovered a side of herself she hadn’t even realised she had. From the first moment that she had walked into the smithy, she had felt at home. She knew it had surprised her mother when she told her that she wanted to work with Collin and Serpin and not go to college.

Phil had just grinned at her and said, “I knew you would find your calling eventually.” Her brother’s approval had set her resolve. He was the more outgoing sibling, and she knew both he and her mother had been worried about her lack of direction. She knew that they didn’t have to worry anymore.

They travelled in a large downward spiral that widened as they went. It took them a good twenty minutes before they came to the small cavern that was just before were the old mine face this tunnel had led too. It was soon apparent that this area hadn’t been mined for some time before the mine was closed off.

Breaking into a grotto filled with water does kinda halt this process. Evidence on the walls indicated that when the miners had broken through, the cavity had flooded the lower level they had been mining. The water had since drained away leaving the new cavern behind.

Collin and Allison determined that the quakes had further weakened the walls and roof, and the new opening they looked through was now closer to ten-metres in diameter and formed a side cave. A large section of the roof and several sections of the walls had also given way and partially filled in some of the cavern that the water had created in the past.

They determined that water had eaten out the old porous volcanic rock that had filled lava tubes and cavities to make the old cavern even larger. Slinky determine the one old lava tube that remained visible went down deep into the mantle.

The five-metre wide opening of the tube was towards the middle of the cavern. It contained slow bubbling mineralized mud that pooled a metre from the top of it. The smell of sulphur was not strong nor was the heat intense once away from the pool.

Slinky believed rising lava had super-heated the water and had caused the explosion that had dropped the ceiling and walls to create the new floor they were walking on. The water still seeped through the wall that was towards the middle of the mountain.

A small stream ran down a channel that it had formed on the other side of the mud pool and disappeared down a fracture on the other side of the cavern towards the wall of the cavern nearest the surface. The explosion had twisted and turned the outer most wall and left a low but wide cleft for the water to escape from.

Twenty meters overhead, the thick layer of Quaz crystals were beautiful to observe. Collin and Allison were delighted to see them. They wouldn’t be easy to get to but that was a problem for later and one Collin was sure he would solve.

The light the crystals gave off was more than enough for them to see clearly in the cavern. They cleared an area of the looser rocks from under the side cavern entrance that Collin reinforced with spells. He then flattened a ten-metre area that was in easy reach of the stream. They set up the camp area before they went hunting.

The broken rocks on the floor indicated the walls of the original cavity had been filled with old volcanic fissures. The crystalline structures they found indicated they had found a treasure trove of quartz, silica and metal-based gems to collect. Collin suspected a lot of the gems that his predecessor had collected had come from this mountain.

Collin was also delighted to find pieces of crystalized sedimentary formations and collected several excellent specimens of agate from which he could make his Nature gems. He was thrilled by the coloured formations and knew he could make the varieties he needed.